Upgrading from 5.7.5.13 to 5.8 "concrete5 has encountered an issue"

I've been trying to update a site from 5.7.5.13 to 5.8 and repeatedly failing. Getting PHP error screens with "array_replace_recursive(): Argument #2 is not an array" (dashboard/site no longer accessible) and would appreciate any advice or if anyone else has encountered similar issues?

I originally tried updating to 8.2.1 entirely through the dashboard. When this didn't work I reinstalled the site from a backup, downloaded 8.3.2, uploaded to updates directory (just the concrete folder) and then installed from the dashboard where it was visible but still getting errors.

Server is running PHP5.6 (tried changing to PHP7 but still getting the errors).

I checked that the installed add ons don't require updates although we do have some custom dashboard pages for creating event bookings and sending confirmation emails - could these be causing problems? They also output to custom single pages.

The site was on 5.7.5.9 and the update 5.7.5.13 went smoothly with no errors.

I too have ran into issues trying to do this upgrade and got the same message.

Is there a way to disable addons and run the upgrade or with I have to delete them from the packages folder?

Also Mdius, what issues where you running into with your application blocks? In the site I created I had to made quite a few custom blocks. What do I need to add to make them play nice with version 5.8?

Also I need to switch the database from MySQL to MariaDB. Is that going to throw yet another wrench in the works?